or, the Russians would turn to the
treaty which gives them "all the land north of the Amoor." Their next
step would be to occupy the best part of Manjouria, which would be
theirs by the treaty.

By far the larger portion of Manjouria is drained by the Songaree and
its tributaries. The sources of this river are in the Shanalin
mountains, that separate Corea from Manjouria, and are ten or twelve
thousand feet high. They resemble the Sierra Nevadas in having a lake
twelve miles in circumference as high in air as Lake Tahoe. The
affluents of the Songaree run through a plateau in some places densely
wooded while in others it has wide belts of prairie and marshy ground.
A large part of the valley consists of low, fertile lands, through
which the river winds with very few impediments to navigation.

Very little is known concerning the valley, but it is said to be
pretty well peopled and to produce abundantly. M. De la Bruniere when
traveling to the country of the Gilyaks in 1845, crossed this valley,
and found a dense population along the river, but a smaller one
farther inland. The principal cities are Kirin and Sansin on the main
stream, and Sit-si-gar on the Nonni, one of its tributaries. The
Songaree is navigable to Kirin, about thirteen hundred versts from the
Amoor, and it is thought the Nonni can be ascended to Sit-si-gar. The
three cities have each a population of about a hundred thousand.

According to the treaty of 1860 Russian merchants with proper
passports may enter Chinese territory, but no more than two hundred
can congregate in one locality. Russian merchants have been to all the
cities in Manjouria, but the difficulties of travel are not small. The
Chinese authorities are jealous of foreigners, and restrict their
movements as much as possible.

The Russians desire to open the Songaree to commerce, but the Chinese
prefer seclusion. A month before my visit a party ascended the river
to ascertain its resources. A gentleman told me the Chinese used every
means except actual force to hinder the progress of the steamer and
prevent the explorers seeing much of the country. Whenever any one
went on shore the people crowded around in such numbers that nothing
else could be seen. Almost the whole result of the expedition was to
ascertain that the river was navigable and its banks well peopled.

In the dim light of morning I saw some houses at the junction of the
rivers, and learned they were formerly the quarters o